Monday February 25 2008

2008 German Arms Summer Club Challenge - The Courier

It is time again for the third edition of the 2008 German Arms Summer Club Challenge commencing on Saturday 16^th of February 2008. This year four clubs will participate in the tournament that has become a regular pre season appointment in the Adelaide Hills for soccer fans.

This year sees Stirling District and Adelaide Wanderers from the First Division plus Old Ignatians and of course, Hahndorf. Each club will bring its first and reserve teams.  

The Germans Arms Hotel in Hahndorf continues its ongoing affiliation with the Hahndorf Soccer Club and will sponsor the Summer Challenge again, including all the prizes offered to the winning clubs, best players and top goal scorer for each division. 

The tournament will be played in a round robin format where all clubs will play against each other at least once, followed by a final format where the first will play the fourth and the second will play the third. On the last game day, the top two teams in the group will play each other for first and second place and the last two for third and fourth place.

 This year tournament promises to be highly competitive with the inclusion of Stirling and Wanderers, the two best teams in the Division 1. In season 2007, Stirling were crowned League Champions, whilst Wanderers were Runner-up. They were both fighting for the title until the very last game when they played each other at Stirling. We will expect a highly entertaining game when these two teams will meet again in the tournament and they are certainly the favorite to fight for the Summer Challenge title and in this year’s First Division. Stirling’s new coach, Juan Rodriguez, is a well known former player who has played at the highest level in Australian Soccer, leading a strong team that has become well established over the years.

Adelaide Wanderers are also a well established club that has winning in their soccer DNA. Several of the Wanderers players have also played at the highest level in Australian soccer, in the former NSL and the club is a well supported. Many Hahndorf fans will recall vividly a great game in division two between Hahndorf and the Wanderers a couple of years ago, where the final score of 4-5 for the city visitors with Hahndorf close to create an upset. The game was highly entertaining with the lead changing several times throughout the game. The final result left the Hahndorf players and its supporters extremely disappointed for not having at least equalised with the high flying Wanderers.

Old Ignatians is keen to continue to improve from last year excellent performance throughout the season. The club is highly successful and has teams in all Saturday Divisions. They have a successful history and were crowned Division 2 Champions in 2007.

Hahndorf is keen to prepare itself for another tough season this year with the aim to fight for promotion after just missing out by two points last year. The club has been rebuilding in the last two years with many new and young players joining the team. The coaching teams of Peter Cottle (First Team) and Edmondo Palombo (Reserve) have rebuilt the team and look forward to using this tournament as a launching pad for a highly competitive season.

All the participating Reserve teams are also highly competitive with a strong and healthy rivalry. Stirling Reserve won their Division with Wanderers Reserve again finishing second, whereas Hahndorf Reserves finished second followed by the Old Ignatians Reserve team.

 For young fans and budding soccer players, the successful Hahndorf Soccer Club Junior coaching staff has decided to have player’s registration on day one of the Summer Challenge, Saturday 16^th February 2008 between 1000am and 1230pm and 4.00pm and 6.00pm. The canteen will be opened offering refreshments and food. 

Come and support the Hahndorf Soccer Club and enjoy the football.